The Nexus 4 from LG is a great device and it has been well received since its release. Some people have said that it is the best Nexus handset yet and possibly the best Smartphone. It comes with specs that are superb and for an unlocked device, the price tag is amazing. However is it the right phone for everyone?
LG Nexus 4 review: is this the phone for you?
While there are many things great about the LG Nexus 4, it does have some downsides. One of these is the fact that it lacks LTE. If you live in the US this could put you off the device as LTE is spreading out fast.
When the LG Nexus 4 went on sale it sold out within hours around the world, so why is it so popular? Well the phone happens to be the Optimus G basically, with some modifications and it comes with excellent build quality and great looks. The device only comes in black; however there is the crystal shell on the back which glitters when caught in the right light. The device looks high quality and it competes with the looks of the iPhone 5. That’s saying something.
The LG Nexus 4 weighs in at 138 grams and is 133.9 x 7 x 9.1mm. This is not as light as the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3, but it’s not heavy by any means.
It comes packed with hardware that is top of the range and it runs on the Snapdragon quad core processor which is clocked at 1.5GHz. It has an IPS display measuring 4.7 inches and 1280 x 768 resolution. The LG Nexus 4 is available in 8GB or 16GB storage internally, however there is no SD card support. The back camera is 8 megapixel and the front one is 1.3 megapixel. While the Nexus 4 doesn’t have support for LTE, it does support HSPA+. It also comes with support for NFC, and it has the MicroUSB connection, a battery of 2100mAh and it has Android 4.2 Jelly Bean installed.
The Nexus 4 came out well is Geekbench tests and in fact it came ahead of the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S3. For reasons unknown it also beat the Optimus G, which it is based on. Perhaps this could be due to it having the latest Android 4.2 OS.
The display is superb but the handset doesn’t come with the ppi to match the iPhone 5. On saying this you cannot tell the difference. The display is easy to read and at the moment it is one of the best seen on any handset. The colors are more realistic than on the Samsung Galaxy S3 and it also performs better when under direct sunlight. Against the iPhone 5 is wins on sheer size.
The cameras are not the best that’s out there, however the photos are clear and the LG Nexus 4 has Photo Sphere and other filters for the camera.
You should get around a full days use before the battery gives up on you and has to be recharged. However when watching a movie you will get around 4.5 hours. It falls below the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3 in this respect. In fact its battery is below a lot of devices including the HTC One X, Motorola DROID RAZR HD and even the older iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S2.
Overall the LG Nexus 4 is a wonderful handset for the price. If you want the 8GB version then you would pay $299 at the Google Play Store, and of course it is unlocked. The Phone is available on eBay for around 30,000 INR in India. It isn’t a perfect handset by any means, thanks to lack of LTE and SD card, and disappointing battery life. It does however does try to make it up with the pure Android experience it offers and the price tag.
When considering whether the LG Nexus 4 is right for you there are many things that have to be taken into account and weighed up. The handset has superb specs and if you don’t mind it not having LTE and you haven’t got a lot of movies or music that needs storing on the device itself, then it could well be a suitable phone for you. If you do want fast LTE data speeds and you need more than 16GB of internal storage then you might want to look at the iPhone 5 or the Samsung Galaxy S3.
